Showing posts with label Live Shows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Live Shows. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The first time I ever saw this band live was also the first time that I ever heard them. September 27th, 2005, I was at a local show here in Lancaster, CA and ran into a friend that I hadn't seen in quite a while.
After catching up, he asked who I was there to see and I responded with "Unearth." He nodded sagely and said, "Right on, man. Just make sure you don't miss Dillinger." I had heard the name a few times but still hadn't heard them. Something about the crazed look on his face when warning me not to miss them made me make a mental note, marked "High Priority"...
When they were ready to get started, I found a good spot in the front row and settled in. They opened with this:
To this day, I don't know how I kept my face from melting off. Not only was their stage presence like a nuclear bomb going off, their music was the most intense, technically proficient, skull-crushingly brutal and refreshingly original stuff I had ever heard. I was instantly a convert and judging by the slack jawed faces of others in the crowd that night, I was certainly not the only one.
"I like to approach singing the way a guy like Daniel Day Lewis approaches acting. You’ve gotta really fucking think about what you’re singing about and get that emotion fresh again in your brain. Be pissed as if you’re screaming. If you were fucking yelling at your friend or fighting with your girlfriend. You wouldn’t be standing still with your hands at your sides and screaming at the top of your lungs."- Greg Puciato
This is exactly how I've always felt in regards to being a metal vocalist, or any kind of vocalist really. The best singers can rip open emotional scars at will and share that experience with you, or open up their heart and show you their love, the way Otis Redding could.
When Greg opens up, he really bares his soul and shows you just how pissed off he is, or just how vulnerable he can be. Whether he's shredding his vocal chords or singing a beautiful melody, this guy is arguably one of the best vocalists music has ever heard. And needless to say, he has the stage presence of a wild animal, set free of its' cage for a little while.
The Dillinger Escape Plan as a whole, are without a doubt, one of the most groundbreaking and talented acts to hit the extreme music world.
Their range of style, technique and sheer disregard for things as seemingly trivial as genre, tradition or even theory go a long way towards creating their truly unique sound. All of that coupled with a truly amazing live performance makes DEP one of the most explosive acts you will ever experience. No hyperbole here.
If you've never listened to the Dillinger Escape Plan, any attempt I could make at accurately trying to describe it would be useless. Instead, here's a sampling of my favorite DEP tracks. Enjoy.
Be sure to pay them a visit on facebook or at their website: www.dillingerescapeplan.com
Monday, May 14, 2012
Free concert? What??
It's been over 5 months since my last post, for reasons that I will elaborate upon at a later date.... For now, let's just get down to another of bob_o's magical music reviews!
Thursday April, 26th started off like any other day. Rolled out of bed, rolled into work, grabbed my much needed morning caffeine and started checking my email. One in particular immediately grabbed my attention; "Congratulations! You're Blistering.com's winner...." Jeeze. This spam filter really isn't working very well. But curiosity got the better of me, so I opened it. According to this email, not only had I won www.blistering.com's contest, I had won tickets to see Ghost, Mastodon and Opeth. Bull. Fucking. Shit.
I've never won anything in my life, let alone something that I would actually want. After a few disbelieving emails back in forth with Blistering Editor-in-Chief David Gehlke and Live Nation rep Lennora Jules, they convinced me that this was not a joke. I had indeed won tickets to see 2 of my favorite bands together. As in, at the same time. But wtf? I hadn't entered any contest, nor was I familiar with Blistering (which, by the by, is a bad ass website dedicated to only the best hard rock and metal). But that was now peripheral to the fact that there was two tickets waiting for me at Will Call! So I hit up my friend, co-worker and fellow metal-head Juan Ibarra. Me: "Hey Juanito! You want to go see Ghost, Mastodon and Opeth tonight at City Walk? For free??" Juan: "What?? Do I have to decide right now?? But yes! Jessss!" Hahaha! I love it when an impromptu plan comes together. (I found out a week later that good friend Cody Strong is the one responsible for entering me into the contest. Thanks Cody!)
The drive to Universal City went smoothly, except that when we got within 10 miles of City Walk, my GPS and Juan's GPS started bickering and we got slightly lost. No biggie.
We picked up the tickets from Will Call and entered the Gibson Amphitheater right as openers Ghost were taking the stage. We took our seats and started listening to the odd Swedish quintet. Neither Juan or I were overly familiar with their music, but I can tell you that half-way through their set, we were both converts to what some have jokingly called the "easy listening" of metal. They have a very laid back and somewhat progressive approach to their music.
It flows nicely, while still having the ability to make you bang your head, despite the absence of what has become standard fare for metal vocals: screaming, growling, shrieking, etc. In fact, the most extreme aspect of vocalist "Papa Emeritus'" vocal style is his accent, which is actually very mild. I think that one of the most hypnotic things about Ghost is their stage presence. Papa Emeritus glides onto the stage, looking like a Pope from your nightmares, complete with ghoulish face paint and bizzaro-world Habit. The other members of the band, known only as the "Nameless Ghouls" don Monk's robes that look like they were stolen from the late 15th century. Their appearance aside, this band is awesome. And despite their relative anonymity in the American metal scene, the crowd seemed to be enjoying it as much as Juan and myself. Regardless of the overtly Satanic lyrical content, haha!
Thursday April, 26th started off like any other day. Rolled out of bed, rolled into work, grabbed my much needed morning caffeine and started checking my email. One in particular immediately grabbed my attention; "Congratulations! You're Blistering.com's winner...." Jeeze. This spam filter really isn't working very well. But curiosity got the better of me, so I opened it. According to this email, not only had I won www.blistering.com's contest, I had won tickets to see Ghost, Mastodon and Opeth. Bull. Fucking. Shit.
I've never won anything in my life, let alone something that I would actually want. After a few disbelieving emails back in forth with Blistering Editor-in-Chief David Gehlke and Live Nation rep Lennora Jules, they convinced me that this was not a joke. I had indeed won tickets to see 2 of my favorite bands together. As in, at the same time. But wtf? I hadn't entered any contest, nor was I familiar with Blistering (which, by the by, is a bad ass website dedicated to only the best hard rock and metal). But that was now peripheral to the fact that there was two tickets waiting for me at Will Call! So I hit up my friend, co-worker and fellow metal-head Juan Ibarra. Me: "Hey Juanito! You want to go see Ghost, Mastodon and Opeth tonight at City Walk? For free??" Juan: "What?? Do I have to decide right now?? But yes! Jessss!" Hahaha! I love it when an impromptu plan comes together. (I found out a week later that good friend Cody Strong is the one responsible for entering me into the contest. Thanks Cody!)
The drive to Universal City went smoothly, except that when we got within 10 miles of City Walk, my GPS and Juan's GPS started bickering and we got slightly lost. No biggie.
We picked up the tickets from Will Call and entered the Gibson Amphitheater right as openers Ghost were taking the stage. We took our seats and started listening to the odd Swedish quintet. Neither Juan or I were overly familiar with their music, but I can tell you that half-way through their set, we were both converts to what some have jokingly called the "easy listening" of metal. They have a very laid back and somewhat progressive approach to their music.
It flows nicely, while still having the ability to make you bang your head, despite the absence of what has become standard fare for metal vocals: screaming, growling, shrieking, etc. In fact, the most extreme aspect of vocalist "Papa Emeritus'" vocal style is his accent, which is actually very mild. I think that one of the most hypnotic things about Ghost is their stage presence. Papa Emeritus glides onto the stage, looking like a Pope from your nightmares, complete with ghoulish face paint and bizzaro-world Habit. The other members of the band, known only as the "Nameless Ghouls" don Monk's robes that look like they were stolen from the late 15th century. Their appearance aside, this band is awesome. And despite their relative anonymity in the American metal scene, the crowd seemed to be enjoying it as much as Juan and myself. Regardless of the overtly Satanic lyrical content, haha!
Next up was Mastodon. And while I was really excited to see them play again, my apprehension definitely got the better of me (read why here). Unfortunately, my skepticism became reality as Mastodon launched into one of the most lackluster performances I've ever seen from a band as big as they are. It felt like an hour of goin'-through-the-motions. And while musically they sounded perfect, the vocals were weak, with the exception of Brann's vocals which were near flawless.
To be fair, when Troy and Brent were singing newer songs, they sounded a lot better. But while playing pre-Crack the Skye tracks (though they only played 4), Brent's pipes sounded likely to give out at any moment. Being a metal vocalist, I can understand what a strain their style of vocals can be on your vocal chords... But why not simply change it up a bit so that it's easier to perform? I dunno.
Also much to my disappointment, as previously mentioned, they only played 4 older tracks: "Hand of Stone" and "Crystal Skull" from Blood Mountain, and "Blood & Thunder" and "Aqua Dementia" from Leviathan. And admittedly, I hate to be "that guy", bitching about wanting to hear "the old shit", but here we are. Well written, recorded and executed though it may be, it lacks intensity. Though admittedly, what it lacks in intensity, it makes up for with tasty progressiveness.
I guess my biggest gripe with them was their near complete lack of stage presence. They can't all be zingers, right?
Opeth. What can I say? Opeth came out and wowed as usual. Mikael was his same dry, sarcastically entertaining self. And they performed an awesome assortment of their material spanning their entire 22 year career. From beginning to end, Opeth delivered the goods. Though I should admit, that this seems to be business as usual for the Progressive Metal band (and I don't care if you don't want to be labeled a "Metal Band", Mikael! You write and play metal, albeit some of the most progressive of metal ever to be recorded).
They began with the first 3 tracks from their latest release, Heritage ("The Devil's Orchard", "I Feel the Dark" and "Slither", respectively). They then played what sounded like listening to their catalog on shuffle: "Windowpane", "Burden", "The Lines in my Hand", "Folklore", "Demon of the Fall" and "The Grand Conjuration". Every member of the band was on-fucking-point. Amazing. Opeth never disappoints.
Here's a few from their set list:
And I know they didn't play it, but here's "Heir Apparent", just for fun!
Overall, it was a great night. And I know I shouldn't complain about Mastodon, considering I got the tickets for Free Ninety-Nine. But... seriously Mastodon. C'mon guys, seriously. .
I'd like to thank David Gehlke at Blistering.com and Lennora Jules at Live Nation for their patience in regards to my incredulous correspondence and for the the tickets! I had a blast! Thanks to Cody for entering me in the contest and thanks to Juan for accompanying me!
Thank you for reading.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Music Monday's: Kyuss Lives!
It is... Alive! Like Frankenstein's monster, Kyuss is experiencing a second chance at life.
The band, formed in the late 80's, disolved in 1997. Considering the fact that I didn't start listening to the Palm Desert based Stoner Rock band until 1998 and given the amount of negativity I had heard coming from former band members, I never once thought that I would ever get a chance to experience Kyuss in person. But last year, plans for a Kyuss reuinion were announced to the world, giving me and thousands of other people across the globe the opportunity they never thought they would get. Unfortunately, guitarist and founding member Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age fame) declined to participate in the reunion. From a couple of interviews I had read, Homme's basic attitude towards reuniting with the Kyuss boys could be said thusly, "Kyuss was great while it lasted. But if you missed it, you missed it. Sorry." As much as I respect the guy and love the work he's done with his subsequent projects, I have to say that that's kind of a shit attitude to take. I'm sure there's ego and personal differences, blah blah blah, etc to contend with, I would think that one could put such trivialities aside and do something that would bring happiness and pleasure to so many people. Then again, I'm not Josh Homme and can't pretend to understand his reasons. Either way, on Saturday, October 8th, I finally got to see one of my favorite bands live and I hate to say it, but Homme's presence was not missed, not by me or anyone else in the Fox Theater that night, despite singer John Garcia being quoted as saying that, "there is never going to be a Kyuss without Josh Homme."
The line-up consists of Garcia, original bassist Nick Oliveri, original drummer Brant Bjork and kicking Homme's shoes out of the way was guitar player Bruno Fevery. Fevery plays Homme's delicious, psychedelically groovy and sometimes super technical licks with ease, while putting his own flavor on them at the same time.
From beginning to end, the show was a great one. Openers Monstro, an Atlanta based 4-piece, did a damn good job of setting the mood for the evening. Then The Sword came on stage and did what it is they do best: Rock the fuck out!
By the time Kyuss came on stage, I was already on Cloud 9 from the opening band's awesome performances. But the real treat was of course the headliner. The band I've waited 13 years to see. One of the most influential groups of musician's that I've ever heard; Kyuss. When they walked out, for a split second, a hush fell over the crowd. And then that silence broke into castrophany as the theater erupted into wild cheering. A chill ran up my spine as the house lights went out and the stage lights came up. Here it is; the moment I've waited over a decade for. The guys played flawlessly for well over an hour before leaving the stage, then came back out for a 3 song encore when the noise level in the Fox reached a point that satisfied them. Again, from beginning to end, this was a show to remember.
Here's their setlist from Saturday's performance. Enjoy.
1. Gardenia
2. Hurricane
3. One Inch Man
4. Thumb
5. Freedom Run
6. Asteroid
7. Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop
8. Conan Troutman
9. Odyssey
10. Whitewater (one of my favorite songs of all time)
11. El Rodeo
12. 100 Degrees
The encore:
13. Molten Universe
14. Allen's Wrench
14. Green Machine
The band, formed in the late 80's, disolved in 1997. Considering the fact that I didn't start listening to the Palm Desert based Stoner Rock band until 1998 and given the amount of negativity I had heard coming from former band members, I never once thought that I would ever get a chance to experience Kyuss in person. But last year, plans for a Kyuss reuinion were announced to the world, giving me and thousands of other people across the globe the opportunity they never thought they would get. Unfortunately, guitarist and founding member Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age fame) declined to participate in the reunion. From a couple of interviews I had read, Homme's basic attitude towards reuniting with the Kyuss boys could be said thusly, "Kyuss was great while it lasted. But if you missed it, you missed it. Sorry." As much as I respect the guy and love the work he's done with his subsequent projects, I have to say that that's kind of a shit attitude to take. I'm sure there's ego and personal differences, blah blah blah, etc to contend with, I would think that one could put such trivialities aside and do something that would bring happiness and pleasure to so many people. Then again, I'm not Josh Homme and can't pretend to understand his reasons. Either way, on Saturday, October 8th, I finally got to see one of my favorite bands live and I hate to say it, but Homme's presence was not missed, not by me or anyone else in the Fox Theater that night, despite singer John Garcia being quoted as saying that, "there is never going to be a Kyuss without Josh Homme."
The line-up consists of Garcia, original bassist Nick Oliveri, original drummer Brant Bjork and kicking Homme's shoes out of the way was guitar player Bruno Fevery. Fevery plays Homme's delicious, psychedelically groovy and sometimes super technical licks with ease, while putting his own flavor on them at the same time.
From beginning to end, the show was a great one. Openers Monstro, an Atlanta based 4-piece, did a damn good job of setting the mood for the evening. Then The Sword came on stage and did what it is they do best: Rock the fuck out!
By the time Kyuss came on stage, I was already on Cloud 9 from the opening band's awesome performances. But the real treat was of course the headliner. The band I've waited 13 years to see. One of the most influential groups of musician's that I've ever heard; Kyuss. When they walked out, for a split second, a hush fell over the crowd. And then that silence broke into castrophany as the theater erupted into wild cheering. A chill ran up my spine as the house lights went out and the stage lights came up. Here it is; the moment I've waited over a decade for. The guys played flawlessly for well over an hour before leaving the stage, then came back out for a 3 song encore when the noise level in the Fox reached a point that satisfied them. Again, from beginning to end, this was a show to remember.
Here's their setlist from Saturday's performance. Enjoy.
1. Gardenia
2. Hurricane
3. One Inch Man
4. Thumb
5. Freedom Run
6. Asteroid
7. Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop
8. Conan Troutman
9. Odyssey
10. Whitewater (one of my favorite songs of all time)
11. El Rodeo
12. 100 Degrees
The encore:
13. Molten Universe
14. Allen's Wrench
14. Green Machine
If you like what you hear, please do your ears and soul a favor by buying some Kyuss! Like the liner notes from their masterpiece, Welcome to Sky Valley says; Listen to without distraction. Check out the latest Kyuss news here.
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